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Not surprisingly it seems that many cloth doll
makers started out as costume designers and textile artists. I started
the hard way, though, as a complete novice sewer.
Here are some Tips to
get you started:
- Making CLOTHES for your cloth dolls isn't
that much different to dressmaking for yourself, albeit on a smaller
scale. So the sleeves on a blouse or the legs of a pair of trousers
will still need to be sewn in
the same way. If you don't already
know how this is done, get some dressmaking books on the subject!
However, there is an easier way (see below)
- You will need to choose SMALL
PRINT,check and plaid DESIGNS to be in better proportion with the
scale of your doll.
- You may wish to sew the clothes to the
doll in such a way as to avoid having to attach FASTENINGS.
Velcro strips
can be easily attached for removable clothes.
Buttons can be sewn as
embellishment rather than being functional and can also be used as joints
for shoulders, elbows, knees and hips.
- It is also possible to
make the actual doll BODY parts in your chosen CLOTHES FABRIC to give an
illusion of costume. This will
considerably reduce the fiddliness and fuss of constructing
miniature clothes.
If you can sew the clothes and skin
fabric together before sewing the body part shapes (e.g. hand
skin fabric piece to arm/sleeve clothes fabric piece; bust skin
fabric to clothes body fabric) then this will also help to reduce
the fiddly nature of the task. You can then sew and cut the hand/arm
or bust/body piece as one unit. It will work best though, if both
these fabrics are good quality cottons that are less susceptible to
fraying, stretching and laddering. (see also fabric
know how)
- Research other types of fabrics and how
they are sewn. There is an excellent reference book:
Sew Any Fabric by Claire Shaeffer ISBN: 0873496434
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